religion's drive

Yesterday as I was driving in my car I heard a quote that has stuck with me. I was listening to a radio station out of Los Angeles and one of the hosts said, “religion no longer has its stronghold on America as it once did.  People are now turning to other things to fill the ‘religion’ void in their souls, and give them something to live for and be passionate about”. To be fair, he was talking about people in LA that are fighting for better bike lanes and apparently making quite a stink about the whole thing.  The host was also trying to say that religion was a brainwashing mechanism and all of that, but that is neither here nor there.

The part of the quote that has stuck with me is when he said, “religion no longer has its stronghold on America s it once did”. This stuck with me because of how much I agree with him on this but for a different reason. I would argue that religion is losing its stronghold, but a true relationship with Jesus is starting to emerge. People are starting to internalize that Jesus was here to set you free with the truth instead of confine you with the ‘don’ts’ in life.

Religion, to me, sets out to make itself look good.  It loves to tell people who is in and who is out, and tends to revel in the fact it does not fall victim to the vices that laypersons so often struggle with.  It loves to tell you when it perceives you to be wrong based solely on you not believing 100% of their set doctrine. If you have the audacity to speak up and simply say, “I don’t know about that”, your belief in God may be questioned, and it is very hard to move into good standing after being branded as a skeptic.

The not so subtle secret and aspect that makes me cringe the most is how much religion will find ways to attack and criticize its own from afar. It makes no effort to investigate, to engage, or to understand the person or thing it deems to not be “religious” enough for its liking. It honestly doesn’t matter what the person or thing’s intentions or heart is, religion will tear it down because they do not fit into the mold that it has made. And the craziest part is if that person or thing is being extremely effective and reaching a lot of souls, religion will find a way to tear the person or thing down and call them a heretic. Religion will literally try to cut off the hands and feet that are being the most effective simply because it doesn’t fit in the box.

When I heard the host say, “they are turning to other things to fill the ‘religion’ void in their souls,” what immediately came to mind are the people I have come to know that are passionately pursuing Jesus. Instead of worrying about the rules and regulations, they are setting out to understand Jesus’ heart and mind to be more like him. They are passionate about sharing Jesus to anyone and everyone, regardless of the circumstances in their life. They refuse to see people as a culmination of their mistakes and look deeper to see the human inside. They don’t worry about “religion” trying to tear them down and telling them they are not worthy; they just take the next step towards obedience.

So, what can that look like? To be honest, sometimes I am not sure. In a country that seems so hell bent to divide itself, and a political climate that seems to tell anyone who doesn’t agree with a certain side that they are evil, it can become hard to even picture. But with that being said, I do think people are starting to gravitate towards Jesus more than ever. The power of religion is starting to lose its rein a little bit, but rest assured, religion will not go down without a fight. Jesus showed there was another way of living that revolved around love and he was killed for it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible.

In a moment of self-reflection, I will admit I have had a lot of religion in me for a long time. I have subconsciously tried to hold court on who was in and who was out and have made up my own little rules as to who deserved to get some Jesus. But, that isn’t Jesus. Jesus went to the people that nobody thought was worthy and hung with them. Jesus gave himself even when he had no more to give, and honestly, I want that more and more each day and the world seems to be going in the opposite direction.

-brad

Currently Reading:

Own the Moment by Carl Lentz

motivation

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed I was starting to develop a stutter. It arose whenever I talked to my friends, my family, and even my coworkers. When it first began, I didn’t know what to make of it and did the worst thing I could have done: I googled it. It should come as no surprise that what I got off of Google was quite disturbing. It said the stutter could be a sign of a brain tumor. Wow!

Upon further evaluation, I determined that the stutter was a mental block that had developed due to some hard conversations I’d been having with different people. In the span of a week, I had engaged in conversations about white supremacy and the horror that unfolded in Charlottesville, VA, as well as our LGBT brothers and sisters. Neither conversation went very well at all. During one, I spoke with several people where I was the only one on my particular side of the conversation, and in the other I ended up getting into an argument with a guy that I thought shared my perspective.

I mention these conversations only because they allowed me to evaluate what my motivation was for getting into these discussions. Actually, I didn’t willfully evaluate them. My best bud James asked me what my motivations were and it made me think – why was I getting into these discussions? Was I trying to educate others on topics I care about such as white privilege and the LGBT community? Was I trying to show people I know more than them? Was I trying to get others to flip over to my side, or was I simply arguing to argue for something?

The truth is, it was probably a little of all of those things. I wasn’t actively thinking about my internal motivations, but I am positive my ego and personal agenda crept in as I was having the conversations. The problem is that I was causing more division than anything else. Even when I thought I was trying to unify everyone, all I was doing was driving a wedge between my friends and me. I’m not saying I should have abstained from having these conversations, but I most definitely should have evaluated my motivation for having a conversation and planned out my side a little better.

The other aspect I lacked in these conversations was empathy. My other best bud David pointed this out. I certainly didn’t take the time to try to see things from their perspective, which caused me to not listen to them as well as I should have. I was planning out my next hard-hitting sentence while they were talking, because in my mind if I just phrased my side better then they would understand. This is obviously the wrong approach to any conversation, and it took me developing a stutter to realize this. I must be extremely dense.

So, I write all of this as an attempt to open up to all of you. I am trying to do this more and more, and part of that is admitting my faults to however many of you are reading this. As we say on our podcast, I do not have the answers necessarily, but I am willing to discuss what the possible answers are. Ever since these things were pointed out to me, I have been able to have far better conversations with the people close to me. I guess it only took me not being able to talk for a while to be able to effectively communicate with other people.

-brad

so will I

Has anyone heard the latest song from Hillsong United called So Will I (100 Billion X)? 

I normally don’t go around asking people if they have heard a song, since just about everyone seems to hear songs before I have. I do not listen to the radio much so if the song is new, I will not know about it for some time. One of the many really fun things that happens when I get together with David is that he shows me new music. He always phrases his presentation of a band or song by saying, “You have probably heard this, but…” Here’s the dirty little secret though: I haven’t.

I say that only to paint a picture of how rare it is that I know of a new song – especially a new worship song – when it comes out. A couple of weeks ago our church played So Will I during their worship set, and it completely stuck out to me because it most accurately describes where I am in my spiritual journey with following Jesus. Unlike many worship songs you hear which tend to talk about Christ as the conquering king or the power of God, this song focuses on the wonder and majesty of our creator. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t see anything wrong with the other songs. I have been moved by a lot of those as well, but this song moves me in a different way than any other song has in a long time.

So here is a snippet of the first chorus:

I can see Your heart in everything You’ve made
Every burning star
A signal fire of grace
If creation sings Your praises so will I

Having grown up going to church my entire life, I had a tendency to lose sight of the wonder of a creator. My attention defaulted to the discipleship aspect of Christianity, and I always focused on what I needed to do to become a “better Christian.” The thing is, I burned out on this approach and realized I would never be able to do enough to feel like I was getting “better.” It felt like a fleeting task to strive to be a better disciple. I could never get into reading the Bible for my designated 15 minutes or praying for the right amount of time about the right things. Just wasn’t happening for me.

Then about a year and a half ago, I was introduced to the wonder of God. My eyes were opened to creation and how beautiful it is. I began to bask in the wonder that all things display the work a creator. I began to enjoy reading about science instead of denying it, as I would have done when I was younger. When I hear someone speak of an aspect of science I don’t understand, I try to embrace it instead of dismissing it because it may not line up with the biblical account. Because just about every time this happens and I dive into what was said, I see the Creator in the science.

This song So Will I speaks to me because it reflects the wonder of the universe. May we not lose sight of this as we go throughout our days. I see so many self-help books about living in the moment and not wasting a day, and I could not agree more. May we never lose sight of the wonder that is our existence on this planet. May we never reduce our relationship with Jesus to tasks and rituals that steal away the joy of just being with him. And may we never lose sight of the fact that Jesus died so that all of creation may be loved by God as perfect and blameless.

So, I will leave you with the bridge of this song. My hope is that it brings you the same wonder and joy that it brought me:

If the stars were made to worship so will I
If the mountains bow in reverence so will I
If the oceans roar Your greatness so will I
For if everything exists to lift You high so will I
If the wind goes where You send it so will I
If the rocks cry out in silence so will I
If the sum of all our praises still falls shy
Then we’ll sing again a hundred billion times

If you would like to listen to this song you can find it on iTunes or any of the streaming services. 

-brad